Details About Ethereum’s Huge Update Have Been Released
Details about the much anticipated Casper version of Ethereum have been released, giving the public a general idea of what changes we should expect. The biggest feature of Casper is that it will eventually convert Ethereum from Proof of Work (PoW) to Proof of Stake (PoS).
Before Casper fully arrives, the ‘Hybrid Casper‘ version will be released, essentially preparing the network for the version. Hybrid Casper will change the consensus protocol into an amalgamation of PoW and PoS, also known as the ‘Friendly Finality Gadget’ (FFG). This means that staking Ethereum will soon be a possibility— it also means that mining Ethereum will become less lucrative. Mining will only provide a reward of 0.6 ETH, instead of the 3 ETH it currently gives. This is, in part, a means of discouraging mining on the blockchain— two of the main reasons Vitalik wants to move Ethereum to PoS is because PoW requires a huge amount of electronic power and because he believes that PoW does not have the capabilities to prevent against common attacks such as the 51% attack. Lowering the amount made from mining also increases Ethereum’s rarity, which could help its price.
The minimum amount of ether you will need to stake is 1500 ETH. Using Ethereum’s current price, it would cost $885,000 to stake, people considering doing so should view this as an investment because it is certainly possible to make lucrative amounts of cash via staking. Stakers do not lose their money, but the ether used to stake will get locked, meaning that they cannot access it for around 130 days. After that, it can be freely used once again. This acts as a means of preventing people from fraudulently flooding the system and trying to damage it.
Many people in the Ethereum community see the Hybrid Casper update as a step towards a more robust and secure blockchain. This is partially because it will be introducing ‘checkpoints’ to the network which will prevent hackers or 51% attackers from using their resources to change the data in earlier blocks. After 50 blocks are on the chain, a staker will create a special new block called a checkpoint which will prevent attackers from editing any blocks before it.
It is unlikely that there will be many stakers right now, considering the current cost, but because mining is still functional during Hybrid Casper, this should not be a problem. There is a possibility that the amount of Ether needed to stake will drop sometime in the future once mining has been entirely ushered out.
Originally published at cryptodisrupt.com
The more detail regarding ethereum casper already published in EIP1011
https://github.com/ethereum/EIPs/blob/master/EIPS/eip-1011.mdBut another question, Will there a hardcap to the total supply of ethereum because basically, it says if ethereum will be moving to the full POS casper and that means the power of miners will be moving to the stakers.
